IN THE BRIDGES HE BURNED
or the way that she died

Inside a house in La Push there stood a young woman who for the life of her could not find her socks. Huffing to herself in irritation she once more dove headfirst into the suitcase she had packed for the move between Makka and La Push and began to chuck everything out once again. She knew in her mind where they were, but they weren’t there anymore and her feet were getting bloody cold just standing there! Swearing lightly under her breath when she finally found them she swivelled around to see the mess she had made and groaned, maybe she’d been a little too violent in her need to find her feet warmers – but oh well she could clean it up later. Now this young woman, who had been until a moment ago, was called Emily Young and she was usually the most organised person you could ever wish to meet, but everything had changed since she had come to the decision to move to La Push soon, she hadn’t settled into a routine yet because she didn’t have a clue where half the stuff on the Reservation was, and now she didn’t even know where all the stuff in her own home was. Huffing to herself once more she grabbed a hair tie from the table in front of her and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail, checking her reflection only once before leaving the room in a flick of dark hair and bright pink, now discovered, socks.

There was one reason and only one reason that Emily was going to La Push later that year, to visit her cousins the Clearwater’s. Her parents had declared that she didn’t spend enough time with them anymore and so maybe some time together 24/7 would reaffirm the bonds. Em hadn’t complained but in her head she was picturing La Push with a sigh. Sure it was lovely but Emily’s life wasn’t there, it was on the Makka, all her friends were here, her school was here, she had always intended to just stay there forever. Shaking away the negative thought she huffed her suitcase downstairs and left it there, she’d be leaving in a few days so it was no use having it upstairs, she’d already tripped over it three times. As there was no one in the house she grabbed the remote for the music player and pressed the on button, waiting for the gentle click that alerted her to the CD falling into place and starting to spin on it’s platform. As the sounds of ‘Rent’ filled the room her feet began to move with a more energetic beat than they had before. Flicking to the fifth track she waited for the telltale sounds of her favourite song beginning and once she heard the first beat she began to fill in the lines. Emily loved to sing but she never really showed anyone, she just sang along to musicals at home. “Just haven’t eaten much today, at least the room stopped spinning anyway…” She sang as she twirled her way into the kitchen and grabbed the cereal from the top shelf, pulling it down to her and tipping some into a bowl. Despite being 18 there was a delightful innocence within Emily that had yet to be tampered with, and it came out so perfectly when she was feeling light-hearted like that morning.

Clothed in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt she gobbled up the cereal as she continued to dance around as if her feet had been put on hyper drive; yet she managed not to get any food down her front! Grinning at her accomplishment she finished her breakfast and then washed it up, just needing to find something to do. She’d not really been expecting any visitors but she wouldn’t have minded, it would break up the humdrum that she seemed to have settled down into. Having thought this her instant reaction to the door knock made her jump at least a mile out of her skin, had she somehow managed to tap into physic powers? Laughing to herself she bustled to the door with a wide grin and threw it open with just a little too much energy so it smacked against the shoe holder in the corner of the room and almost made them all fall off. Seeing her cousin there she smiled even wider, but then her tone alerted her to the fact there was probably something wrong. Not even bothering to question why Leah was suddenly there she grabbed a jacket and her keys, slipped her feet into her shoes and stepped outside, closing the door after her. “What’s up hun?” She asked as she began to walk towards the forest around the back of her house, knowing it was a nice place to walk on days like that one.